Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Rain Windows

Watching the online weather radar and forecast and (the actual!) sky while simultaneously listening for rumbling thunder in the distance and hoping for more of those beautiful sunbursts, I’ve managed to calculate in a few jaunts out into the world without getting soaked. I don’t particularly mind getting soaked – I kind of like it once there’s nothing to be done about it, but it’s particularly challenging for me to get out the door when it’s wet out there and dry in here. I start having thoughts like:

“Well, I could drive to the grocery store… I don’t know, is it worth driving 2.67 miles (roundtrip) just to get some bread? I probably have enough food for the rest of the day… Yeah, but it’s forecast to rain for the next three days straight. What are you going to eat then? … Who says I have to eat? Maybe I’ll fast until the weekend. Maybe I’ll just eat fallen Sycamore leaves and the earthworms that are drowning in all the puddles outside…”

So, yes, the sunbursts are much appreciated.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I thought I was the only one having thoughts like that. I do love the rain when I can stay home and really enjoy it..and have plenty of food in the house!!!

Man that rain must be tough. I feel so bad for all of the Californians. Ha! Your trails are weird though because when it rains the muds sticks up to 10 inches on the bottom of my shoes and it is impossible to get decent running in. Our dirt is way different up here. It doesnt stick.

I guess some trails and areas are muddier than others. Most of the places I run dry up pretty quickly – pretty sandy, rocky. Of course there are always a few little pools/pits that hang around for a bit. And actually I did bring home some mud on my shoes from my run through the Arroyo over the weekend.

We got 9 inches of rain in 5 days.

I’m trying to figure out my strategy for the creek crossing at the beginning of the Malibu Creek run in March – run through or remove the shoes/socks. If it was toward the end of the run I’d say run through but as it appears to be just a few miles in I’m not sure about running with soggy shoes for 12ish miles. At least I’ll only have to go through once.